Roofing Manufacturer’s Product Donations Are Benefitting Poor Families in Central America, Caribbean

by Marcy Marro | 25 August 2021 12:00 am

Since 2016, Metal Panels Inc.[1] has been loading trucks full of surplus metal panels, fasteners and accessories, but not for their sale. Instead, these are valuable products donated to Cross Catholic Outreach[2] to help struggling families in Central American and Caribbean communities–places facing hardships from hurricanes and floods and where basic shelter is a luxury few can afford.

To determine how to get materials into those countries would be a complicated task for any local business, but MPI’s founder, Mitchell Hentkowski, has discovered a non-profit organization perfectly suited to just such a task–Cross Catholic Outreach.

Cross Catholic Outreach is a nonprofit ministry of dedicated specialists experienced with the ins and outs of international shipping. The charity also has an extensive network of in-country partners around the world who know local community needs and can distribute donated materials to those most in need.

Through the coordination of Cross Catholic Outreach, MPI and other manufacturers in the U.S. have a way of offering a helping hand[3] that can be an easy and straightforward process. When Metal Panels Inc has built up enough inventory for a truckload (by volume and weight) they simply contact Cross Catholic Outreach to schedule a pick up. At the set time, the ministry’s flatbed tractor-trailer arrives and is loaded, and the responsibility for coordinating delivery–containers, travel, customs, taxes, and distribution–are transferred to Cross Catholic Outreach. Truckloads leaving Tulsa arrive at the international port of choice, where the loads are containerized, and shipped to destination ports in Central America or the Caribbean.

So far, Metal Panels, with the help of industry partners, has shipped 24 truckloads of materials to the needy, and according to Hentkowski, the need is far greater than this. “I believe there are many business owners like me who want to do something for those in need. However, the daunting task of moving materials from your business into countries that most need it, will cause them to decide that it can’t be done.”

Cross Catholic Outreach’s network of ministries and service providers streamline the process of donating building materials to the needy[4], making it easy for product producers to make a significant and tangible difference in our world. The stewardship and fiscal responsibility of Cross Catholic Outreach is respected and well-documented, and the ministry provides donors with detailed records including the direct impact of each donation.

From humble beginnings in 2001, Cross Catholic Outreach has grown significantly, and is celebrating a $3 billion-plus impact on poverty[5] in this anniversary year. Its reach extends from Central and South America through the Caribbean to parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, touching thousands of lives by meeting basic needs for food, safe water, educational opportunities, adequate shelter, and spiritual support. While Cross Catholic Outreach is becoming well known for its amazing distribution system, its efforts in “Delivering Food, Shelter and Hope to the Poorest of the Poor” are always marked by genuine compassion and the long-term goal of having poor families reach higher levels of self-sufficiency.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/news/daily-news/roofing-manufacturers-product-donations-are-benefitting-poor-families-in-central-america-caribbean/

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